Physical simulation

Based on physics, the Simulation Engine and Simulation Suite enable users to visually verify that statically designed models actually work in accordance with both physical laws and pragmatical requirements. Simulation of complex assemblies or mechanisms (as one of the main tasks in CAD/CAE) is a key application along with 3D computer games, systems of virtual reality, and others.

This new project is now under intensive research & prototyping by LEDAS specialists. The first phase consisted in creation of a 2D engine for dynamic simulation of non-penetrating rigid bodies. The system of bodies may be either in motion or in static equilibrium; a body may touch other bodies at multiple points. We take into account the following physical and mechanical aspects:

• assembly constraints,
• gravity,
• friction forces,
• external forces.

The engine consists of two modules:

• collision detection to determine whether a collision occurs, and
• collision resolving to define the velocities of rigid bodies after the collision.

Both modules have been completely designed and implemented at LEDAS. Among the features of our solution, note an original impulse-based model for collision resolving. Our approach reduces the collision-resolving problem to solution of a sparse system of linear equations, for which effective methods exist. The next stages of the project aim at designing a full-blown 3D version with a comprehensive API along with creation of a more efficient version of collision detection, extending collision resolving with new physical possibilities (including deformable collisions), and some other improvements. You can download several movies created with our prototype implementation of this engine (called "Phoenix".) They demonstrate various capabilities of the approach. Your feedback will be very appreciated at info@ledas.com.